Livestock Ivermectin for budgies?

[vojinslayer]

Hello there! I have spotted that my female budgie has scaly face mites (Knemidokoptes) on the sides of her beak. I also noticed that one of her toe is kind of broken, one of the scaly face symptoms. Her tail wags a bit, another symptom. I searched how to get rid of them. I learned that I need to put one drop of Ivermectin 0.1% on the budgies neck-head section and repeat that after 15 days. It also stated that I need to mix 0.5 ml of Ivermectin with 500 ml of water, that I should give to the budgie to drink for 24 hours, and repeat that after 8 days. Olive oil needs to be put on the budgies beak and legs every day (with washed hands), with caution, don't let olive oil enter the budgies nose openings (the holes on the cere). To get fully rid of the mites, the cage needs to be disinfected with a vinegar-water mix.

So the first question:

Is this information 100% true?

Now let's head to the second, main question:

Can I use Livestock Ivermectin for budgies?

Third and final question:

When and how can I disinfect the budgies cage to fully remove the mites?

[Hezz]

Most of that information is incorrect.

Ivermectin 0.1% is the treatment of choice, correct. This can be purchased online relatively easily, depending on where you live. This is the most common one used by our members:

www.petdrugsonline.co.uk/pharmaq-ivermectin-drops-cage-birds

It is not recommended to try to dilute down from a higher concentration, not least because of fatal mistakes can be made, but the solution is not water-based, it is glycerine-based, so will not give you a smooth evenly mixed solution if you try to dilute in water. You would need to use a food-grade light-weight glycerine to dilute it with.

The drop goes onto the back of the neck on the skin, not the feathers, and needs to be repeated every week for three weeks. At the same time as you dose the bird, give the cage a good thorough cleaning with f10 if you can get it, or otherwise hot soapy water and rinse off with dilute vinegar.

there is nothing to be gained by adding ivermectin to the bird's water, except potentially making them sick, and the same with using olive oil, except to give a little relief from the itchiness.

Any other birds that you may have, that have any sort of contact with the infected bird will need to be treated as well, in the same way - one drop once a week for three weeks on the skin of the back of the neck.

Never heard of "broken toe" or tail wagging being a symptom of scaly mites. Would you like to post a photo so we can help you diagnose for sure whether or not she has scaly mites?

[vojinslayer]

Thanks for the reply! Oh well, I am going to stick with the forums regarding any animal research. I was reading from many sites and watched some YouTube videos about the mites and their removal. Thank you so much for the detailed answers, those really help. I am getting an Ivermectin 0.1% from the veterinary centre, if they have one.

Here's a picture of the broken toe:



Her left leg has the "broken toe"

You might know how budgie tails wag, vertically up and down. I don't know the causes, but I've read that they do that because of stress, pain or they are just feeling exhausted after a flight.

She's a bit shy in front of the camera.

This is her beak section:

[Hezz]

A tail bob can be caused by many and very varied reasons, most usually because the bird is having some difficulties with it’s breathing, usually nothing to do with mites.

It definitely looks like scaly mites on her beak and cere.

I hope you are up for a little constructive criticism... her cage really needs to be changed for something not round and not missing paint. If she is the cause of the paint chipping off you might think about getting a cage that’s been powder coated. It is much harder and she will have a harder time making any impression on it. Once the paint is chipped rust will set in and this is a toxic substance to birds. It doesn’t take much to affect them. The other thing is round cages can cause a bird to stress out as there isn’t a corner to hide in. If you do get her a new cage, please look at getting the biggest rectangular one you can afford. I’m sure she is worth it. 🙂

[vojinslayer]

I can take criticism mate, no worries. Thank you for the cage info. She does not chip off the paint. I had a Fischer's Lovebird before her, and boy oh boy, he loved to chew on the whole cage. He chipped off most of the paint. He was a master escape artist, he figured out how to open and close the cage. I gave him away to my dad's friend. I'll change her cage, but firstly I need to give her medications. She is worth it, I won't give up on her . Her new cage could be a custom one, I will ask my dad if he is in the mood to make it with me ( I am sure that he will agree, currently we have plans for a finch aviary on wheels, so some leftover material could be handy ). I will check on the bobbing tail and broken finger problem. Thank you again, stay safe!

[mona]

Agreed with Hezz. Also, keep her warm and let her rest, if she is tail bobbing. Budgies really hide their illness very well. When it becomes pretty visible, it's too late. Keep out an eye on her to check if she is eating and drinking. Tail bobbing due to the reasons mentioned by you would be just for a few moments.. it won't be continuous tail bobbing. Mine does that after intense shredding but that lasts for a few minutes. Do look out for that. If there's continuous tail bobbing, you might have to take her to the vet.

I had a little rust developing on my old cage. I was super worried about metal poisoning, so I used to clean the rust off every day, since it was fresh. Got a new cage for them for the same reasons and getting the old one powder coated as a spare cage if I need it sometime.

[vojinslayer]

Okay mona, thanks. I'll keep an eye on her. I keep her in the living room, with good room temperature.

[vojinslayer]

Happy New year! I wish you all the best this year! I hope that we can forget about 2020, and welcome the year 2021!
So, about the Ivermectin problem. I forgot to mention that I live in Serbia, where we don't have PayPal, and I could not buy it off the Website that Hezz linked. So my dad contacted the vet center to see if they have some. The local veterinary center doesn't have any 0.1% Ivermectin for birds, just the higher concentration mainly used for pigs, what a bummer!
Can someone please link me a website that I can buy the Ivermectin from?

[Hezz]

I’m on the other side of the world, so not much help to you. Hopefully someone else more in your neck of the woods will have some useful info.

[Morgan]

Jan 1, 2021 0:16:46 GMT vojinslayer said:

Happy New year! I wish you all the best this year! I hope that we can forget about 2020, and welcome the year 2021!
So, about the Ivermectin problem. I forgot to mention that I live in Serbia, where we don't have PayPal, and I could not buy it off the Website that Hezz linked. So my dad contacted the vet center to see if they have some. The local veterinary center doesn't have any 0.1% Ivermectin for birds, just the higher concentration mainly used for pigs, what a bummer!
Can someone please link me a website that I can buy the Ivermectin from?

Could the vet properly dilute the ivermectin that they have for you using glycerin? I suppose if they could then they may have offered to do so, but then again they may not have thought about it too hard if you just made a general inquiry, but if you really get stuck perhaps that could be an option. I would not recommend trying to do it yourself as it could kill your birds easily if not diluted correctly.

[vojinslayer]

I don't know, the vet did not offer such a thing when my dad asked for Ivermectin 0.1%. We will check if they could do that. Though, my dad already has an ivermectin bottle that he uses for pigs. Can the vet dilute that? Thanks.

[Hezz]

The only problem with diluting a drug like that is that the diluting substance, in this case glycerine, needs to be of the same density as that used in the initial bottle. Like oil, I think there are differing grades of glycerine, some thicker/thinner than others. You can certainly ask the vet if it is possible; I do hope they are able to help you.

[mona]

I tried looking that up in my area, to see if it can be ordered out of the country..but the max I could find is 1% ivermectin.. So, I understand your situation.. Someone very experienced and extremely precise could help get you all that dilution done..

Medicines should be available at all places.. and not having access to certain ones is sad..

[Shirls]

Hello vojinslayer I hope you have been able to sort something out, but I had to search Ivermectin for you, I know you posted a few days ago now but I Googled:

Buying Ivermectin in Serbia for Budgerigars and came up with this:
serbia.desertcart.com/products/49524484-beaphar-anti-parasite-spot-on-for-small-birds-4-week-treatment-for-canary-budgie

It has the correct amount of Ivermectin in it.

I appreciate they were out of stock at the time, but it has given you an alternative to search for, where you live or google under it's name.

[vojinslayer]

Jan 3, 2021 21:50:31 GMT Hezz said:

The only problem with diluting a drug like that is that the diluting substance, in this case glycerine, needs to be of the same density as that used in the initial bottle. Like oil, I think there are differing grades of glycerine, some thicker/thinner than others. You can certainly ask the vet if it is possible; I do hope they are able to help you.

Okay, I will seek some information about that. Thank you